Changing your Department of Work and Pensions Details

• Your National Insurance contributions (taken out of your wages when you're working)

• Jobseekers allowance and benefits

• Pensions

It's important to change your name with them to ensure everything is correct with regards to your payslips when you're working, and when dealing with the Job Centre for any benefit-related enquiries.

Documents required:

• Original copy of your statutory declaration or deed poll.

• Doctor's letter stating change of gender. (Note: the DWP will not change your gender on the system until you have a Gender Recognition certificate, but they will change your name and title).

• Covering letter

There are no costs to changing your name and gender markers with the DWP.

Where to send it

Send a certified copy of your name change deed or statutory declaration with your doctor’s letter, together with a letter from yourself quoting your National Insurance (NI) number to the central office of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as follows:

The DWP will acknowledge your change of name and title and reply in a standard letter stating that the change will have no effect to any legal entitlement to state benefits, especially the state pension.

You may also receive a new plastic NI number card which will show the new title and name but there will be nothing on the card to indicate a previous name.

When you change your name with the DWP as a trans person, they will put a special restriction on your account which means only authorised members of staff can access your information.

This often stops some employees, such as staff at Job Centres, to be able to access your records. This protects your confidentiality but can cause delays when trying to sort out some issues. You may need to allow extra time to sort out any issues as a result.

Each individual is only allowed to ever receive one replacement National Insurance card in their lifetime. Trans people who change their names therefore are not entitled to a new card if it is lost, so look after it.